Lie Ren (bringstheflour) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2018-09-24 17:35:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, lie ren, t'challa (black panther) |
Who: Ren and T'Challa
What: Ren shows T'Challa some moves
When: During the summer
Where: UCI Campus
Warning/Rating: Low/none
Status: Complete
T'Challa strolled casually across the UC Irvine campus, drinking in the atmosphere. He missed this: the students on their way to class or hanging out on the grass during breaks between them; the quiet, orderly layout of the campus greens. It was a perfect day, sunny and warm - though for some he knew it was perhaps too hot. Being from the Republic of Congo, he was used to this type of weather.
A few students and faculty recognized him and nodded a hello. He was on his way to lunch with a member of the latter and was early, hence why he was taking his time. He paused to watch a student who seemed to be practicing a particular style of martial arts out on the grass. After a long moment of observation he commented, “Nice form.”
It really was too hot, but Ren wasn’t going to let that stop him from practicing his forms. The heat was probably better to train in anyway. It got his endurance up, but also helped him clear his mind which is why he had started practicing. As important as it was to train his mind, it was also important to train his body. Besides, staring at a textbook all day could get tiring. By taking a break, he’d be better able to come back to his studies with a fresh pair of eyes.
He had stripped down to just a muscle shirt and a pair of loose pants, though even with those he was still sweating in the July heat. He took a break to grab some water, and heard someone compliment him.
“Thank you,” he said, glancing over at the man. “Do you practice wu shu as well?”
“No,” T’Challa said with a smile, stepping forward. “But the fighting styles of my people have similar elements. Those skills I do practice.” The younger man seemed as if he had been out in the sun a while, as he was sweating and T’Challa hesitated a moment before deciding to ask his question. “I have a few minutes before I have to meet an old colleague for lunch. Would you mind showing me a few forms? I am always curious about studying other forms from various cultures.” It never hurt to add to his repertoire, super hero or not.
“I don’t mind at all,” Ren said, inclining his head a little. “I teach wu shu part time.” Only a drop-in class these days, though he had once taught more dedicated classes full time when he was saving up for University. Between studying and the dreams, he didn’t have the time to dedicate to anything other than a couple of casual classes during the week.
“What kind of skills do you currently have?” he asked, if only for deciding the complexity of the form he could show. He could have always shown the basic beginning forms, but it was more interesting to see how complicated he could get with someone with a martial arts background.
T’Challa smiled a knowing smile, the sort of expression of a man who held a lot of secrets and liked surprising people with them on occasion. He took a stance and displayed a dexterous series of movements that even in the clothing he was in seemed difficult to pull off but he made look easy. “That is a beginning form taught to me by,” and he stopped short, realizing mentioning a bodyguard that did not exist here for a royal title he did not possess in this life made no sense, “an old friend.” Okoye would be insulted beyond belief if she could hear him now and inwardly T’Challa chuckled at the thought of what her expression would have been.
Ren was impressed at T’Challa’s moves, and, once he had finished, Ren clapped lightly, and said, “that was very nice.” While he tried to keep up to date on different forms of martial arts, he wasn’t sure if he had seen one quite like that before, and he had to admit he was curious.
But first, T’Challa had asked Ren to show him some moves, and now that Ren had a rough idea where T’Challa was at on a physical level, he thought he knew where to start. He jumped into one of his advanced forms, running through it once for T’Challa’s benefit, and once he finished he asked “do you think you can shadow me?” Ren was confident he could, so long as Ren kept things slow and precise.
T'Challa nodded at Ren’s display, clearly impressed. When asked if he could follow along he knew he could, and with a smile and another nod he was next to the young man, ready to learn. “Where do you teach Wu Shu?”
“At the Li Qiang School of Martial Arts,” Ren said. “I only teach drop-in classes now, and by necessity they are often lower level, though some of the more advanced students often stop by for extra training.” By virtue of being more advanced, they also required far less attention; Ren usually only had to correct their current forms when he noticed a mistake instead of needing to teach them new techniques.
T'Challa followed Ren along as he mirrored his movements almost perfectly. By virtue of his dream abilities, despite the heat, his clothes and the martial arts, he wouldn't break a sweat so he knew he was safe from looking a mess for his lunch meeting. “Would you mind another student?”
Ren’s eyebrows rose a little, clearly impressed at how well T’Challa had mirrored his motions, without even looking even slightly out of breath. Part of him wondered if T’Challa wasn’t one of the dreamers, possibly one with special abilities. “Not at all,” he answered. “So long as you don’t mind the slower pace.”
“I do not mind.” he replied as they continued. It was then his phone buzzed in his pocket. Breaking form, T’Challa stopped and checked the message on the screen. “I’m sorry to cut this short, but it seems my friend is ready for lunch earlier than he anticipated.”
Ren smiled slightly, and then nodded. “It was nice to meet you,” he said. “I hope I’ll see you at one of my classes soon.”
T'Challa stuck his hand out to shake Ren's. “I look forward to it.” And he smiled and then turned to go, heading towards the university's main building.